


In Paramorial

by Btw Where The Hell Are We (GrumpDerpShipping)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Grief/Mourning, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-25 00:36:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16650934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpDerpShipping/pseuds/Btw%20Where%20The%20Hell%20Are%20We
Summary: Lance tries to distract himself during a restless night, but something in his computer is acting up in the worst ways possible.





	In Paramorial

It was all a blur, memories so diluted and vague that it was hard not to think it was all just a dream. Lance’s mind blanked completely on how he had gotten into the passenger seat of his mother’s car. His memory may be foggy, but he could still hear that sound. That flat, ear piercing sound that left Lance unsure of whether to yell or cry, ultimately leaving him unable to do either when he was limply dragged out of the hospital. He just let that sound drill further into his mind.

Lance stared down at his phone, face dull and expressionless. He had a series of worried texts from his best friend, Hunk and his sister, Veronica. He glanced over them briefly before turning off the screen, the bright light giving him a headache in the shaking car.

His mother didn’t press him for details, simply letting him shuffle inside after turning off the car. His bag bumped the staircase at every step as his siblings shared worried glances, no one daring to say a word to ask him what happened. Lance went to bed without dinner and only saw his family that night through the occasional brief check in on him. He barely reacted to their presence, regardless of how long they stayed, and never spoke a word. That night was the only night the McClain household was this unnaturally quiet.

Heavy raindrops thumped loudly on the roof above him, he liked to think the noise is what kept him up, but he knew he was wrong. His body was limp, and his eyes were heavy, but he still refused to sleep. He couldn’t remember where he had discarded his phone, but it had to be well past midnight at this point. His mind clouded over with thoughts of him again. It rained like this on their first…

Lance bit his lip and abruptly sat up, swiping at the area beside his bed to find his backpack. Tears pricked at his eyes as he desperately tore into the bag to find something to distract himself. He pulled his headphones over his ears and tried to calm his stuttering breath. The pulse of his heart helping to drown out the rain. His fingers gripped the blankets around him impatiently as he booted up his laptop, his calming ocean desktop doing little, if nothing, to soothe him. He opened his internet browser, praying for any kind of distraction from reality. His simple prayer was drowned out the moment he thought it.

‘Teen Dead in Motorcycle Accident’, he never realized how soulless these local news articles were until now. Even as Lance desperately swiped his trackpad to open a new tab and get away from it, his eyes still caught the small name in the article’s preview, ‘Keith Kogane’. As his vision blurred with tears, his head sunk into his lap. His heart constricted in his chest and everything rushed through him at once; the uneasiness as Shiro asked him to come with him after class, the worry hearing about the accident, and then…

Lance dug his teeth into the blankets to muffle his sobs as the noise returned. The flatline of Keith’s heart rate. His lover was dying, and Lance had powerless to do anything but sit there and watch. The light of his short life had been extinguished and this high school senior was left with nothing. Hot tears poured onto Lance’s bedding, fingers clawing at his cheeks as he tried to muffle his sobs for fear of waking up his family.

By the time he sat back up, the rain had passed. His now irritated eyes looked back to his laptop, his website choices unmotivated and careless. He missed clicking on his intended bookmarks quite a few times, but he rolled with it, looking for anything to distract himself. He mindless scrolled through his social media, biting back a whimper as his eyes drifted to the ads wedged between his posts. Biker gloves, motorcycle accessories, all little things he could’ve considered getting Keith for his birthday. The one that would no longer happen.

Lance sniffled and wiped at his eyes again, the ping of a Facebook notification drawing his attention as he opened another tab, not bothering to look at who it was from as he clicked it. His breath caught in his throat when the familiar icon stared back at him when the page loaded. It was a selfie from one of their last dates. It was just a relaxing day at Lance’s house, but Keith had insisted on capturing how perfect Lance had looked that day. If Lance had looked anything like he did now, Keith had been lying. Lance’s fingers shook as he read the message before him, Keith’s icon and name right in front of him.

‘Hey man…are you okay?’ Lance took a shaky breath before moving his fingers to respond.

‘keith??’

‘Lance…no it’s Hunk…’

Lance scanned the screen again in confusion before responding.

‘why are you using his account?’

‘I’m…not?? Lance are you alright? I’m worried about you and you weren’t answering my texts.’ Hunk sent a screenshot to confirm he was on his own account.

Lance’s heart sank, the website must have been glitching. Lance sighed and closed the tab, unable to keep the conversation going while staring at the account that would most likely be marked deceased within the week. He shifted to Instagram, the timeline of photos turning into a blurred swirl of colors. A gasp fell from his lips when a photo from Keith’s account appeared on his feed. He was posing with his dog, the addicting smile on his face stabbing right through his heart.

He scrolled faster to get away from it. A few posts later, another photo of his lost love. After more desperate swipes they were appearing two at a time, three at a time. Soon enough the entire website was mocking Lance’s grief with an endless stream of Keith’s photos, his tears being the only thing to obscure the images.

He swatted the laptop from his bed in frustration, not caring as the expensive electronic hit the wood floor with a loud bang. He flipped onto his stomach and screamed, clawing into his pillow as he begged for whatever force was doing this to him to stop. He gave up trying not to alert his family, hoping if he cried loud enough, he’d be exhausted enough to finally sleep. His body shook as he lost the energy to continue to yell, eyes drying when he ran out of tears.

The house remained still as ever as Lance whimpered and trembled, his manhandled pillow held close to his chest. The ring of a Skype call filled the room, drawing Lance’s attention to his now cracked laptop screen resting sideways on the floor. Lance rubbed at his irritated eyes before reluctantly getting to his feet and picking the laptop up.

Keith’s name stared him dead in the face yet again and the video call option was not available. Lance let out a shaky sigh before answering the call, the window shrinking into the corner of his screen. He plugged his headphones back in and sat down on the bed. The breathing in his ears was all too familiar but he refused to let his mind consider the thought. He couldn’t handle any more ridiculous false hope. Even with the image of Keith’s dying body in his head, knowing that he was gone for good, the voice that he was met with made it all melt away.

“L-Lance..? Baby?”


End file.
